Pump for fluid and semi-fluid materials



June 4, 1957 A. e. BODINE, JR 2,794,400

PUMP FOR FLUID AND SEMI-FLUID MATERIALS Filed May 28, 1956 1 4Sheets-Sneet l INVENTOR. dbe/zt a ga? ,4 OPNEY June 4, 1957 Filed May28, 1956 A. G. BODINE, JR

PUMP FOR FLUID AND SEMI-FLUID MATERIALS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q INVENTOR.

June 4, 1957 Filed May 28, 1956 A. G. BODINE, JR

PUMP FOR FLUID AND SEMI-FLUID MATERIALS 4 Shets-Sneet s ,4 Tram/E Y IJune 4, 1957 A. e. BODINE, JR

PUMP FOR FLUID AND SEMI-FLUID MATERIALS 4 Sheets-Sneet 4 Filed May 28,1956 INVENT OR. 1415f??? 6500mm Jk.

United States Patent This invention relates generally to pumps forpumping fluids or semi-fluid mixtures containing sohd materials oraggregates of various sizes, such as plaster, stucco, and

mixtures of cement and water with sand, gravel or rock. 1

This application is a continuation-in-part of my application entitledPump for Fluid and Semi-fluid Materials, Ser. No. 468,769, filedNovember 15, 1954, and allowed December 1, 1955.

The invention is directed to improvements in a known type of pumpcomprising an arcuate trough or open conduit for the material to bepumped, and a plurality of wheels or rollers adapted to roll insuccession along said trough or conduit, in a manner to force the fluidor semifluid substance in a forward direction. Such pumps of this classas have previously been known have employed solid wheels, and have, inconsequence, suffered two major disabilities: first, the wheels orrollers could not pass over large solid particles, such as rock, whichmight temporarily become slowed or jammed in their forward progress,with the consequence that the entire pump mechanism became jammed; andsecond, closure of the pump outlet, eitherby closure of a valve, or bybecoming obstructed for any other reason, similarly jammed the entirepump mechanism. a v

A purpose of the present invention is the provision of a pump of theclass named having improvements designed to permit the pump mechanism tocontinue its normal operation notwithstanding blocking of the pumpoutlet, or

temporary stoppage or slowing of large solid particles in v the pumpconduit.

The characterizing feature of the present invention is the provision ofpneumatic tires on the wheels or rollers, such tires being compressibleto pass over large temporarily arrested solid particles, and being alsocompressible to pass over the entire mass of material in the pumpconduit in event of stoppage of the pump outlet. This gives the pump anautomatic pressure maximizing characteristic.

A further advantage of this pneumatic adaptation is that the rollerclosest to the outlet in any instance tends to yield and slip part ofits load back to the next roller, and so on back, so that the pump givesan automatically distributed pressure in multi-stage division.

The invention provides also a novel single wheel pump of the generalclass mentioned.

The invention will be better understood by reference to the followingdetailed description of one present illustnative embodiment thereof,reference for this purpose being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of a pump in accordance with theinvention;

,Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the pump of Fig. 1;

. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4a is a fragmentary view similar to a portion of Fig. 4 but withthe parts in a ditferent position;

Fig. 5 is a View similar to a portion of Fig. 4, but showing amodification;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of the inventionusing a single wheel;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken on line 77 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional detail taken from Fig. 6; and

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are somewhat diagrammatic views showing successivepositions in the operation of the pump.

The pump is provided with a frame structure 10, here illustrativelyshown as comprising a horizontal inverted channel member 11 adapted forengagement with a horizontal supporting surface, spaced horizontalchannel members 12 mounted on the edges of base channel 11, uprightchannel members 13 and 14 at opposite ends of the channels 11 and 12,and a pair of outwardly facing uprightchannel members 15 and 16extending from opposite sides of base channel 11 midway between the endmembers 13 and 14. An arcuate or substantially semicircular open troughor conduit member 20, forming a longitudinally curved channel half roundin cross section (see Fig. 3) is suspended between the upright endmembers 13 and 14. As here shown, this conduit 20 is formed as a castingprovided at one end with a tubular inlet fitting 21, and at its oppositeend with a similar tubular outlet fitting 22. These inlet and outletfittings, which are formed with integral coupling flanges 23, aresupported by plates 24 on the upper ends of upright members 13 and 14.

The tubular inlet and outlet fittings 21 and 22 are formed at the top oftheir inner ends with flanges 25 to which are secured opposite ends of aflexible strip 26, preferably of elastic material, such as rubber, whichextends from end to end of the conduit member 2!) and is fastened tooutwardly turned edge flanges 20a of the latter by means of curved holddown straps 27 and a series of suitable screws 28. As here shown, thecentral members 28a of these screws are somewhat longer than theremainder of the series so as to pass also through the upper flanges ofchannel members 12, whereby to secure the conduit 20 to the basestructure of the pump. The normal undeformed or unstretched position ofthe rubberstrip 26 is in the curved plane defined by the top surfaces ofthe arcuate conduit flanges 25.

A earlier time 30 for later described pneumatic tired wheels isrotatably mounted on an axis concentric with the center of the arcformed by the semi-circular conduit 20. In the illustrative embodiment,a shaft member 31 is mounted in frame members 15 and 16 on the axis ofrotation for frame 30. On this shaft 31, and confined between the websof channel members 15 and 16, is a bearing bushing 32, and rotatablymounted on the latter, are the tubular hubs 33 and 34 of a pair ofspiders 35"and 36, respectively, constituting the aforementionedrotatable frame 30. The two spiders 35 and 36 are held against relativerotation to one another by interengaging clutch jaw formations at theadjacent ends of their hubs 33 and 34, as indicated at 37.

Keyed to an outwardly projecting hub portion 49 of spider 36 is a spurgear 41 driven by a pinion 42 on a drive shaft 43 journalled in abushing 44 extending through the web of upright frame member 16 andsupported by a tubular boss 45 welded to the latter. The frame 30 madeup of the two spiders 35 and 36 is thus understood as constantly rotatedwhen shaft 43 is driven by any suitable prime mover, not shown. Theextremities of the arms of spiders 35 and 36 have journalled therein theopposite end hub portions 48 and 49 of pneumatic tired wheels generallydesignated by numeral 50. The hubs of these Wheels are formed with axialbores receiving rotatable shafts 51 with a free-running fit. At one end,these shafts 51 carry a head 52 positioning a gear 53 Patented June 4,1951 v keyed or otherwise fixed to said shaft, and each such gear 53meshes with an idler pinion 54 rotatably mounted on the spider arminward of the gear 53 land meshing in turn with a;fixed spun gear 55.whose hubvsurroundsrbushing 32 and which is secured tightly to the webioffframe up, right as by means ofscrew56:

Each of the describedlwheels 50 comprises preferably an ordinarypneumatic inflatable tire, 60',- Ecomprising,;ca'sing 61 and inner tube62, the latter :furnished with valve stem 63 understood to have theusual tire valve, and as; clearly shown in Fig. 3, such tire is mountedon a more: or less conventional rim 64 mounted,,in: turn, inanysuitable. fashion, on the wheelhub,'as ,clearlyr -shown'iin. Figure3. The inflated tires engagetherubberstrip, 26; stretchi.ug.. and.pressing it firmly downagainst the bottom=ofccomi duit .20;

In operation, spider-frame.30 :rotates in';a.clockwise:= direction as'viewed in Figs. 1 and 4.= In this rotation,.idler gears 54 roll onfixed gear 55, causing rotation of wheel. gears -53 in acounterclockwise. direction, as indicated by thearrows in Fig. l. The.rubber tired wheels.-50' accordingly turn in a counter-clockwisedirection as frame' 30 is driven in the clockwise direction. 'Therelative. size. of gears 53, 54 and 55is so chosen that the peripheralspeed of the tires 50 about the wheel axes is just. equal. tozthe speedof travel of the outermost points:of the tires relativeto the arcuateconduit-.20, with theconse quence that the tires 50'roll alongtherubber. strip. 26 pressed down in the conduit without skidding andwithout materialtendencyto drag the rubbetstriplfiv in. eitherdirectionalong the conduit. Thepreferredsem bodiment of the inventionincorporates this positivezgear drive for the wheels. However, insimplerforms 'ofzthe pump, such positive drive of the wheels maybeeIiminated, in which case the rubber tired wheels'will rotateby'means' of frictional contact with the rubber strip 26 pressed downagainst the conduit.

In the operation of the'pump, the fiuidor semi-fluid" material, withorwithout solids, is supplied via pipe or" through fitting 21 and intoan upper'end iportion of'the-- conduit. 20 in back ofthe wheel; Theunextwheel in'succession, passing the inlet 21, closes-the same off, asclearly illustrated in Fig; 4, trapping a charge of the semi-fluidmaterial in the conduit space 60, inside the. rubber-strip 26, andbetween the two adjacent-wheels 50. Thismaterial is gradually advancedaround the trough or'conduit 20- toward the outlet by a'rolling andpinchingv action of the-- rearrnost of the two Wheels, the foremostof'the wheels correspondingly vacating space. at the front end of-thecharge of material to permit its advance; Thechargeis thus caused toprogress around the conduit 20, to be finally ejected via outlet fitting22, and'it willi'br seenxthat acharge, such as that in the space .61,-will be forced out the outlet fitting 22 as the wheel in-advancethereofpasses 1 the outlet fitting and the wheel to the rear thentrolls the.material forwardly, forcing it to discharge.

It may be readily seen that in the event that 3.80l1df pareticleofmaterial, suchas' indicated in dotted. lines. at 8' in Fig. 4, shouldbecome temporarily stalled in the" conduit 20, the pneumatic tire 50, aswell as the rubber strip 26', will readily indent to pass over suchobstacle, the deformation occurring under. these conditions being imdicated in dotted lines in thefigure. Pumping may thus continue withoutthe wheel becoming wedged against suchsolidmaterial and the entirepumping mechanism jammed The tires roll easily over.any:suchilodged:or'slowed: ma

4 terial, without the pumping action otherwise being interfered with,the remainder of the fluid mass being forced ahead in the normal manner:The rubber strip 26 tends to seal about the solid particle or particlesbeing passed by the roller, so that the fluid material is forced ahead.

Likewise, in the event that the discharge conduit leading from outletfitting 22-.sh0uld become stopped, the pump can still continue torotateby reason of the ability of the rubber tires tov flatten as ,theyencounter the stopped material. It will further be noted that any suchflattening deformation of the'rubber tires will increase the pressurethereof and will correspondingly increase the discharge pressure of thepump, thus tending automatically to clear the outlet. Accordingly,in'theevent-that the material in the discharge outlet or conduit shouldbecome merely stopped or wedged, possibly because of accumulation ofsolid material, the pneumatic wheels will automatically deform to ride:overrthe'stopped material, but will also continue to :exert .a dischargepressure, which discharge pressure may, because :of .the deformation of.the tire, be increased sufiicientlyytoclearthe discharge conduit of theobstruction. On theother hand, if the obstruction in the dischargeconduit. is positive, as by reason of closinga control valve therein,the pump can still continue to re.- tate, the tires simply deformingsufficiently to roll over the stoppedmaterial.

A modification shownin-Fig. 5 consists in forming thebottomof thetrough, here'indicated by, the numeral 20a, with a corrugated outlinesuchas indicated at 20b. The engagement of the rubber: tire with therubber strip 26, pressed down on thiscorrugated'formation provides atnon-skid contact, and gearing means for positively driving the wheels ontheir individual axes are accordingly; notused in this case.

Inthe event that the material tobe pumped is supplied to the inlet withsuflicient pressure, as from anelevated hopper, the pump is.self-filling, and the flexible strip 26 then need not'have elasticproperties, as the pump will fill without the necessity ofelasticcontractionof the. flexible strip behind the advancing wheels. Moreover,other obvious biasing means can be used to cause the strip 26, orequivalent side wall of thesqueezed conduit, to be constrained open. Ifdesired, the depth of thetrough; can bereduced or eliminated if theflexiblemember pro:- vides commensurate: embracement Figs. 6 to 11 showanother'illu'strative embodiment of; the invention, employing a singlepneumatictiredwheel; Thesupporting frame structure :is. shown. tovcomprisezbase plate supporting frame; .101. supportingptubular. inlet-J.andoutlet fittings 103 and .104; respectively; formedin; the upper endportions, of arcuate track '105 which restssaf the bottom on baseplate100. and is suitably secured to the: latter;

Secured to the-top end portions. of track 105;..aboveinlet and outletfittings 103 and 104, and along the longitudinal edges of track 105, asby suitable screws, as shown, is afiexible'strip or diaphragm 106,composed of fabric, or an elastic material, such as rubber. Thisstrip,in this embodiment, has somewhat greaterwidth than the track 105, so asto be capable of bowing or bulgingupwardly, (see'Fig. 7),therebydefining a conduit 107 for the material to be pumped. Thisconduit is adapted to be progres= sively closed and opened by means ofthe-illustratively, single pneumatically tired'wheel 110, as presentlyde= scribed.

The wheel-110*comprises two annular; pressed steel members 111, rivetedtogether as at 112, and'form'edatthe outside to provide a rim forrubber' tire 113 having inner tube 114. The the 113 has' a radius nearlyas 'largeas theradius of arcuate-track' 105, andit'ismountedfor gyrationabout the center of the arc defined by track"10'5i In-the arrangementhere shown, the'inner portion .of the wheel is tightly mounted on theoutside of the outer sleeveof a 'ballbearing'assembly 121 .whose innerbearing sleeve-123 is-press=fitted onto an eccentric 124.

The eccentric 124 is mounted on a shaft 125 furnished with bearings 126and 127 carried by brackets 128 and 129, respectively, extendingupwardly from frame 101. Shaft 125 may be rotated by any suitable means,not shown, such as gears, chain and sprocket, or the like.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the flexible strip or diaphragm 106is secured to the casing of tire 113 at a point approximately oppositeinlet 103, and this fastening may be by means of a rivet such asindicated at 130. The point of fastening should be sufliciently belowthe upper end of the flexible strip or diaphragm 106 such that thediaphragm is capable of flexing with the movement of the tire, aspresently described. The drive shaft 125 for eccentric 124 is concentricwith the center of curvature of arcuate track 105, and the throw ofeccentric 124 is equal to the difference between the radius of thearcuate track and the radius of the tire. This means that as theeccentric turns through the lower half of its stroke, the tireprogressively moves along the track from the inlet to the outlet,pressing the flexible diaphragm firmly against the track as it travelsaround, and squeezing any contents of the conduit 107 progressivelyforward. During the upper half of the stroke of the eccentric, the tireis cleared from the track, as represented in Fig. 9.

Operation is as follows: the fluid or semi-fluid to be pumped, with orwithout included solids, is supplied via a uitable conduit coupled tothe inlet fitting. The tire will be seen to describe a gyratory motion,its center describing a circle whose radius is equal to the throw of theeccentric, and which throw is equal to the difference between the radiusof the track and the radius of the tire. In this case, owing to theattachment of the tire to the flexible diaphragm at 130, the tire doesnot rotate on its axis, but gyrates bodily as described. In thisgyratory action the tire, from such a position as illustrated in Fig. 9,approaches inlet 103 and presses the diaphragm firmly against the trackover this inlet. The point at which the tire presses the diaphragmtightly against the track, then progresses around the track from theinlet to, and past, the outlet, passing from the position of Fig. 9through those of Figs. 10 and 11 and back to Fig. 9. As the point ofcontact moves on beyond inlet 103, the diaphragm is retracted from theinlet opening by reason of the fastening at 130, developing a suctionwhich draws a charge of material in through the inlet and into theconduit, as indicated at c in Fig. 11. A previously intaken charge ofmaterial c in the conduit ahead of the tire is at the same timeprogressively advanced and forced out outlet 104. The tire then passesthrough the position of Fig. 9, the charge of material remaining in theconduit (charge c in Fig. 9) being advanced to and out through theoutlet 104 on the next trip of the tire along the track.

An alternate arrangement results from omitting the fastening of thediaphragm to the tire casing. In this case, of course, the tire isenabled to roll around the track, as in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 5.In this case, some means is required to induce inflow of materialthrough inlet 103. This means may be any arrangement to create an inletpressure; for example, create a pressure head at the inlet, e. g., ariser pipe connected to the inlet through which the material is conveyedto the inlet. Or, inflow may be induced by employing an elasticdiaphragm and the trough type of conduit such as shown in the embodimentof Figs. l-S. The embodiment of Fig. 6 shows a single wheel driven by aneccentric of small eccentricity, which is of evident advantage. However,it will be seen that the embodiment of Figs. l-S will operate in thesame general fashion by eliminating three of its four wheels. It is thena single wheeled pump, of smaller wheel radius, but larger throw. Thistype of pump is especially well fitted to the pumping of paste-likematerials which do not readily run backwards in the conduit when thewheel moves out of contract.

It will be understood that the drawings and description are forillustrative purposes only, and that various changes in design,structure and arrangement may be made with-" out departing from theclaims.

I claim: 1. In a pump, the combination of: a conduit for the spirit andscope of the appended pumped material, an inlet communicating with oneend portion of said conduit, an outlet leading from the opposite' endportion of said conduit, a flexible wall forming longitudinally alongsaid conduit over'said flexible wall and for pressing said wall towardcontact with the interior of said conduit, and means for guiding andmoving said pneumatic-tired wheels in spaced relation from one anotherprogressively along said conduit from said inlet toward said outlet,said pneumatic tries being deformable to pass over material stopped insaid conduit.

2. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein said flexible wall is composedof an elastic material which is elastically stretched by the successivewheels passing thereover.

3. The subject matter of claim 1, including means for rotating saidwheels on their individual axes at peripheral speeds equal to the speedof travel of the wheels along the trough whereby to eliminate tendencyfor skidding of the wheels relative to the conduit.

4. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein said conduit is longitudinallycurved into the arc of a circle, and said means for guiding and movingsaid wheels comprising a frame rotatable on an axis coinciding with thecenter of said arc, said wheels being mounted for individual rotation onsaid rotatable frame in circumferentially spaced positions about saidaxis.

5. In a pump for fluid or semi-fluid materials, the combination of: aconduit for the material, and inlet and an outlet communicating withopposite ends of said conduit, said conduit having opposed side wallportions extending longitudinally between said inlet and outlet, atleast one of said opposed side wall portions being flexible anddeflectable toward contact with the opposed side wall portion, aplurality of wheels fitted with soft, resiliently de formable tires, andwheel supporting and driving mechanism for rolling said tired wheels insuccession on and along said flexible wall portion of said conduit in afixed path in which the peripheries of the tires progessively deflectsaid flexible conduit wall portion toward the opposed conduit wallportion and thereby compress the conduit and advance the materialcontained therewithin, said tires being deformable to pass over largesolids in the material in the conduit or over stopped material in theconduit in event of jambing or choking between the tire and said outlet.

6. The subject matter of claim 5, wherein said tires are pneumatic.

7. The subject matter of claim 5, wherein said flexible side wallportion of said conduit is composed of an elastic material which iselastically stretched by the wheels running therealong.

8. The subject matter of claim 6, wherein said flexible side wallportion of said conduit is composed of an elastic material which iselastically stretched by the wheels running therealong.

9. In a pump for fluid or semi-fluid materials, the combination of: aconduit for the material, an inlet and an outlet communicating withopposite ends of said conduit, said conduit having opposed side wallportions extending longitudinally between said inlet and outlet, atleast one of said opposed side wall portions being flexible anddeflectable toward contact with the opposed side wall portion, a wheelfitted with a soft, resiliently deformable tire, and wheel supportingand driving mechanism for moving said tired wheel on and along saidflexible wall portion of said conduit in a fixed path in which theperiphery of the tire progressively deflects said flexible condui-t'wall portion -teward theioppesed 'COIJdUi'FWaILPDIfiOH and thereby'compresses the conduit and advances =th'e ma' terial containedtherewithin, said tire being deformable 10. The subject'matterof claim9, wherein said conduit is. arcuate in -longitudinal contour, andthereis a singlewheel and tire; a bearing at the center of said 'wheeland a driving eccentric therein, saideccentric h aving-an axisofrotation concentric with the center-of curvature of said conduit,and'thethrowof said eccentric being a=rninor" fraction of the radius orsaid arcuate conduit.

1 11 2 The subject matter oi "clainr 10, wherein saidtire and flexiialewall portion -are attached to one another in the-regicn of said inlet]References '(Zited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS312,106" Fajen" Feb. 10, 1885' 2,018,998' De Baker- Oct. 29, 1935'Jensen" Dec.v 7,1954

